Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Auckland Cinephile is a guide to the various arthouse and retrospective releases of the week that in our highly subjective opinion are worth mentioning. Listing doesn't guarantee a theatre will follow through with their plans, or I might have fucked up, so double check before going. For a full listing of screen times across Auckland, Flicks or the theatre website is probably your best bet. If you think we've forgotten something, please mention it in the comments. Suggestions for improved formatting also welcomed.

CURRENT RELEASES:
* Stealing the limelight this week is Wes Anderson's latest, MOONRISE KINGDOM, which played in July to a full house at the Civic and opens for regular release. You've probably heard of it, so watch Bill Murray giving a tour of the set.

* Bobcat Goldthwait's GOD BLESS AMERICA was that secret screening at Academy Cinemas last week. It's back this Sunday at 7:30 for another showing, should you want to see a bullet in the face of pretty much every American sacred cow. Here's an AV Club interview to get you primed.

* THE BULLET VANISHES is a new Chinese detective thriller set in the 1930s starring Nicolas Tse (THE VIRAL FACTOR, WU XIA) and Ching Wan Lau (MAD DETECTIVE) that gets reasonably positive notices from the folks at Twitch. Also in world cinema: Bollywood sci-fi comedy JOKER and French baby-rearing comedy A HAPPY EVENT.

* Also: Maggie Gyllenhaal vibrator period piece comedy HYSTERIA previews this weekend; MEN LIKE US, a Kiwi documentary about gay men, opens at Rialto; and THE EXPENDABLES 2.

Continuing in release are the following festival films:
* HOW FAR IS HEAVEN, the acclaimed NZ documentary
* MARGARET, directed by Kenneth Lonergan (YOU CAN COUNT ON ME) and starring Anna Paquin
* I WISH directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda (STILL WALKING, AFTER LIFE)
* BERNIE by Richard Linklater (SLACKER, BEFORE SUNRISE)
* VULGARIA, the Incredibly Strange gross-out film about filmmaking
* SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS, the LCD Soundsystem concert film/documentary.

REPERTORY/ONE-OFF SCREENINGS:

* This week, the big news in Auckland is the Big Screen Symposium, bringing to town such luminaries as American indie producer Ted Hope, the inimitable Sam Neill, director of THE SAPPHIRES Wayne Blair, and Ben Lewin, writer/director of Sundance hit THE SESSIONS. The latter film screens on Thursday night at Event Queen Street for ticket holders only; see it for $325 and get a 2-day conference on the weekend for free!

* The Victoria Picture Palace, whilst changing management, is doing weekend documentary screenings. This weekend: QUEEN OF THE SUN: WHAT THE BEES ARE TELLING US and THE BOY MIR: 10 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN.

* So here's a question for you, the reader: should we mention every single non-current movie playing in repertory? Because MAMMA MIA! screens at Berkeley Takapuna on Wednesday the 5th.

* And last but far from least: the Te Tuhi Gallery in Pakuranga is hosting the touring show True Stories/Scripted Realities until October 28, featuring moving image art from six filmmakers. One piece in particular, Omer Fast's THE CASTING, is highly recommended as one of the best works of moving image art I've ever seen in a gallery and is well worth the trip to Pakuranga. (We're not as familiar with what's going on with filmmaking in galleries as we are with cinemas, so definitely keep us posted on anything we should know about!)

Not to be outdone, two independent critic's poll, the Skandies and the Muriels, have collated dozens of ballots for their own top 20. It's a similar list, but a different #1, that's close to my heart. As always with these things, I find the most compelling reading to be the list of orphans: would you rather read yet another essay on KANE or VERTIGO, or somebody defending THE BROOD, 1941, or AWAARA (what?) as one of the top 20 films of all time?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Auckland Cinephile is a guide to the various arthouse and retrospective releases of the week that in our highly subjective opinion are worth mentioning. Listing doesn't guarantee a theatre will follow through with their plans, or I might have fucked up, so double check before going. For a full listing of screen times across Auckland, Flicks or the theatre website is probably your best bet. If you think we've forgotten something, please mention it in the comments. Suggestions for improved formatting also welcomed.

CURRENT RELEASES:

* NZ documentary HOW FAR IS HEAVEN was one of my highlights of the NZFF, and I'm glad to see this beautiful observational documentary about a small community is returning to local theatres.

* Kenneth Lonergan's MARGARET, starring Anna Paquin and feted by many critics as one of the greatest US films of 2011, unexpectedly returns to Rialto for its third trip to theatres this year (after World Cinema Showcase and a May run at some other theatres). Screening in 35mm!

* Pang Ho-Cheung's VULGARIA, a cheap quick and filthy film about the perils of filmmaking, is the first film from NZFF's Incredibly Strange section to return for a theatrical run (at Event Queen St and St. Luke's). Other Asian films releasing this week: the Chinese STARRY STARRY NIGHT and LAN KWAI FONG 2.

* Academy Cinemas are hosting a mystery screening of an "ultra-out there black comedy involving splatter and irreverance (sic) at every turn blows the politically correct society apart, literally. Rated R18 contains violence and offensive language, this film will have its Australasian premiere at the Academy, Sunday the 26th of August at 7.30pm."

* And, rather unexpectedly, a lot of major critics have reasonably nice things to say about HOPE SPRINGS, despite it seeming like blue-rinse fodder and having a poster I can't bring myself to look at without cringing.

Continuing in release are a passel of NZFF '12 films, including:
* I WISH directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda (STILL WALKING, AFTER LIFE)
* BERNIE by Richard Linklater (SLACKER, BEFORE SUNRISE)
* SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS, the LCD Soundsystem concert film/documentary.

REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

* Terrence Malick's second film, DAYS OF HEAVEN, returns to Academy Cinemas in HD for four screenings. They're also showing a Who double feature of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and QUADROPHENIA on Sunday at 3:15.